Man jailed for gun purchase tied to border agent's death

Date: December 14 2012

Fernanda Santos

PHOENIX, Arizona: A man who bought two weapons found at the scene of a US Border Patrol agent's killing, and subsequently linked to the botched gun-trafficking operation known as Fast and Furious, has been sentenced to 57 months jail, closing another chapter in a case that ignited a political firestorm in the US Justice Department.

Jaime Avila bought 52 guns over several months, including powerful assault and sniper rifles, which Judge James Teilborg of the US District Court called ''weapons of war''.

As many as 2000 guns were bought by straw buyers like Avila between 2009 and 2011 - in cash from licensed merchants in and around Phoenix and under the watchful eyes of agents from the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The agents were supposed to keep track of the weapons, part of a plan to stem the flow of illegal guns into Mexico. Instead, the weapons vanished into the hands of drug gangs.

In court, Avila's lawyer, Candice Shoemaker, pleaded for leniency, saying her client's drug habit was ''controlling his decisions'' when he signed up to buy the weapons, for which he was paid $50 apiece.

Brian Terry, from Border Patrol, was killed in December 2010 not far from the Mexican border, in the southern Arizona desert, 11 months after Avila had bought the rifles. Two of the rifles were found at the scene, although investigators have not disclosed if the bullets that killed Mr Terry were fired by them.

Making his case for the maximum sentence allowed under US federal guidelines - 63 months - Mr Terry's cousin Robert Heyer told Judge Teilborg ''you have the ability to send a message to anyone who is thinking about becoming a straw buyer for weapons'' and to tell the Terry family that ''justice has been served''.

Avila will serve three years of probation upon his release.

The New York Times

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